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(Story on A4) PLDT INCURS P48-B BUDGET OVERRUN, STATES MANAGEMENT REVAMP
File photo dated July 27, 2016 shows President Duterte during a National Security Council meeting attended by four former presidents including (from left) Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Fidel V. Ramos and Benigno Aquino III. Presidential Spokesman Harry BUSINESS / B4 Roque says Malacanang is inclined to ask the four ex-presidents to attend a meeting on issues besetting the West Philippine Sea. NSC file
PBBM okays 6-year dev’t plan Whole-nation tack aims to steer gov't bureaucracy in ‘same direction’
By Vince Lopez
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RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved Friday the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 20232028 to boost deep economic and social transformation while reinvigorating job creation and steering the economy forward. The PDP was prepared by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) board, which the President chairs.
"I'm happy to announce that today, at the NEDA board meeting, we approved the Philippine Development Plan for Next page
VOL. XXXVI • NO. 304• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P20 SATURDAY SATURDAY,, DECEMBER 17, 2022 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
Mr. Marcos approval rating improves to 64% in last qtr. By Julito G. Rada MORE Filipinos are concerned the Marcos administration should focus on the prices of goods and inflation after the national economy, a fourthquarter survey conducted by Publicus Asia Inc. from Nov. 25 to 30, 2022 involving 1,500 total interviewees showed. The same survey showed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s total approvalrating in the fourth quarter inched up to 64 percent compared to a quarter ago, but his low rating as the concurrent Department of Agriculture secretary is a “wake-up call” for him to find somebody to lead the department, an
economist said Friday. The national economy is still considered the topmost priority for the President to focus on but prices and inflation moved up “as a clear second place, indicating a growing concern, particularly in NCR (National Capital Region),” Publicus said in its deck for the survey released to the media. Meanwhile, the Chief Executive’s 64 percent rating was higher than the 62 percent in his first three months in office. Vice President Sara Duterte’s approval rating was higher at 68 percent in the fourth quarter from 66 percent a quarter ago. During the online Pahayag 2022 Next page
SIGNED AND DELIVERED. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signs the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA) surrounded by Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Speaker Martin Romualdez, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, and other lawmakers and Cabinet members (inset) who made it possible to draft and pass the spending measure in record time. Ver Noveno
President calls Senate sets MIF deliberation, nat’l budget as ‘fine-toothed comb’ scrutiny ’fine Xmas gift’ By Vince Lopez, Vito Barcelo and Maricel V. Cruz
HOLIDAY RUSH. Some 200 passengers of a listed 1,719 fill the Manila North Harbor Port terminal on Friday as they wait for their RoRo vessel bound for Batangas, Iloilo, and Bacolod to board on Friday, with just over a week before Christmas Day. Coast Guard photo
P500 for Noche Buena amid price hikes? By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has defended its P500 Noche Buena price guide after critics on social media said the amount was inadequate for a Filipino family—given the high prices of commodities. This coincided with a statement from an official of the Department of Energy that domestic pump prices are forecast to increase next week by as much as P1.60 per liter. The expected oil price hike ended five consecutive weeks of price cuts amid the softening of world oil prices. Diesel is expected to go up by P1.50 to 1.60 per liter, kerosene by P1 to P1.10 per liter, and gasoline by P0.25 to P0.30 per liter based on the four-day trading.
Also, more Filipinos are concerned the Marcos administration should focus on the prices of goods and inflation after the national economy, a fourth-quarter survey conducted by Publicus Asia Inc. from Nov. 25 to 30, 2022 involving 1,500 total interviewees showed. The national economy is still considered the topmost priority for the President to focus on, but prices and inflation moved up “as a clear second place, indicating a growing concern, particularly in NCR (National Capital Region),” Publicus said in its deck for the survey released to the media. Those surveyed also said the economy should be the topmost priority for the President to focus on. Next page
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the P5.268 trillion 2023 national budget on Friday, calling it “as fine a Christmas gift” a chief executive could receive from Congress. The General Appropriations Act of 2023, he said, was the national roadmap that defines the intentions of the government and the projects it would pursue next year. He also said the speed by which Congress passed the GAA—“the fastest passage of the national budget that we have seen so far”—was indicative of the support and solidarity that the legislature had with the executive department. Next page
SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri said the Senate might begin deliberations on a bill creating the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) by February next year, noting that all bills passed by the House can only be referred to the Senate on Jan. 23, 2023 after the recess. Zubiri said the bill would then be referred to the committees on banks, finan-
cial institutions and currencies, government corporations and public enterprises, ways and means and finance. It would then be up to the committee chairmen to schedule hearings, most likely by the middle of February. "We respect the committee system in the Senate, and we will study through Next page
Speaker cites House's success in passing important measures By Maricel V. Cruz SPEAKER Martin G. Romualdez on Friday cited the accomplishments of the House of Representatives in the first five months of the 19th Congress, including the approval of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) to boost economic develop-
ment and the passage of 19 priority bills. In his remarks before the legislature started its Christmas recess Thursday, Romualdez said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, identified 19 priority measures for the 19th Congress to consider and approve. Next page
Countdown to Christmas begins with 9-day Midnight Mass By Honor Blanco Cabie
begun. izing the cock-a-hoop celebration of Today's Mass, the second, starts the Mass or Service of Worship in honor THE nine-day Midnight Mass has before the break of dawn, symbolNext page
FIRST MIDNIGHT MASS. Catholic devotees flock to the St. Mary Magdalene Shrine in Kawit, Cavite during the first Simbang Gabi for the year on Friday, December 16. Attendees are still wearing their facemasks inside and outside the church. Danny Pata